Yazdi Cakes

You all know that I enjoying cooking all different cuisines...I guess you could say that I have a very eclectic palate.  But there is one area that I haven't explored very much and that is Middle Eastern cooking.  I hadn't really even given it much thought...Well until Michael's coworker/friend, Mariam gave us a box of Iranian saffron.  That sparked my curiosity and I began reading up on Middle Eastern cooking. 

Now I don't know of any Middle Eastern restaurants around here and I only recently discovered a small Mediterranean market where I can finally buy things like bags of raw pistachios, orange blossom water, and pomegranate molasses.  A couple weekends ago was my first trip there...I just bought a random hodgepodge of stuff, no idea what I was going to cook.  I knew I'd figure that all out later.

And I decided on these little cakes that I found on Azita's Persian cooking blog, Turmeric and Saffron.  Just in case you were wondering these cakes are named after the city of Yazd in Iran.  These cakes...more like muffins, lightly sweet, and with the scent and flavor of rose water and cardamom. 

I thought they were perfect, but the real test...I had Michael carry a couple to work for Mariam.  He told me she opened the bag and said they smell just like what we have back home.

Yazdi Cakes

adapted from Turmeric and Saffron

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup rice flour

1 & 2/3 cup sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

3/4 cup butter, at room temperature

1 cup plain yogurt, at room temperature

1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cardamom

2 tbs rose water

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

chopped pistachios (I used about a 1/4 cup)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at time, mixing well after each addition.  Add the rose water and vanilla extract, mix well.  Mix in the yogurt one spoonful at a time.  In another mixing bowl whisk together the all-purpose flour, rice flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cardamom.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well.  Line muffin tins with paper liners and fill the liners 2/3 full.  Garnish the tops with chopped pistachios.  Bake for 20-25 minutes for standard size muffins and 10-13 minutes for mini, until golden brown and when a tester inserted comes out clean.  Remove from the pans and cool on racks.

I made 12 full sized muffins and 24 mini muffins, so this recipe should make about 24 full sized muffins.

Madhur Jaffrey's Delicious Chicken Bits

Way back last year...I began reading Madhur Jaffrey's autobiography, Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India.  I never finished reading it...I'm not sure why, but I just couldn't get into it.  Weird...since I can sit with one of her cookbooks and read for hours.  But that's just the way I am with books(not of the cookbook variety)...I just can't seem to finish reading them.  I have about twenty half-read books on my Kindle.  And I told myself I can't buy anymore until I finish the ones that I already have.

And first on my list Madhur Jaffrey's biography...I figured it would be a good excuse to cook some of her recipes...as if I really needed an excuse, but anyway.  So this weekend I started reading again from the begining and I have hardly put it down.  I read it last night just before bed with hopes of having dreams of fried pooris, the juiciest mangoes, the smell of freshly ground spices...but no dreams...well if I did I didn't remember it.

But it is much better to eat food in real life, than to dream about it!

These Delicious Chicken Bits were the first of Madhur's recipes I have tried and I have probably made them ten times...mainly because they are so easy and delicious...as they are named.  They are a perfect appetizer, great on a salad, and even good cold.  The flavor is not so specifically Indian...so even if you don't love Indian food as much as me, you will still enjoy these.  Do wash them down with a strawberry lassi.

Delicious Chicken Bits
adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's Quick and Easy Indian Cooking

1 & 1/4 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried thyme (or 1/2 tsp ajwain seeds)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp salt
3 tbs vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Cut each chicken breast into 3/4-inch to 1-inch pieces.  Place in a bowl and add the black pepper, turmeric, cayenne pepper, cumin, thyme, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and 1 tablespoon of oil.  Mix well and set aside for 10 minutes or longer.  Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a wok or large nonstick skillet over very high heat.  When the oil is very hot, put in the chicken.  Stir-fry until the chicken pieces are lightly browned or turn opaque on the outside.  Put in a baking dish, cover loosely with lightly oiled waxed paper or foil (which should sit inside the dish and directly on the chicken pieces), and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the chicken pieces are cooked through.  If not to be eaten immediately, remove the chicken pieces from the hot baking dish to prevent them from drying out.

My note: I usually skip the step of placing the in the oven and just cook them a little longer in the skillet, just be sure the chicken is cooked through.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Crescents

Another crescent roll recipe...Michael's Chicken Bacon Ranch Crescents!

Oh man...are these good!  And EASY!!!

I guess you could go to the trouble of grilling your own chicken and frying bacon...

but I'm not going to all that trouble!

Chicken Bacon Ranch Crescents

1- 8 oz can refrigerated crescent rolls

4 oz cream cheese, softened

a heaping tablespoon dry ranch dressing mix (about 1/2 a packet)

8 strips bacon, cooked crisp (microwave pre-cooked works great)

about 6 oz grilled chicken, cut into strips (you see what I used)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  In a small bowl mix together the cream cheese and ranch dressing mix.  Separate the crescent rolls into triangles.  Spread each triangle with 1/8 of the cream cheese mixture.  Place a strip or two of chicken on the widest side of each triangle.  Then top each with a crumbled strip of bacon and roll up.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown.

Makes 8 crescents

Mediterranean Pasta with Chicken and Asparagus

Let's talk food photography for a minute...It's the reason I enjoy blogging and the reason I hate it!  Yes...I have a love/hate relationship with blogging.  But...Of course I wouldn't keep doing it if I didn't enjoy it...and the most stressful part and my favorite part...taking pictures of food.  I learned quickly that every light in the kitchen and dining room produced the most terrible brown icky looking food pictures.  I think every food blogger has experienced this...right?  And it really sucks cooking dinner at 3 o'clock in the afternoon so you can have beautiful natural light photos.  Natural light is the way to go...it's just not always possible!

Now let me step out there and say PICTURES DO NOT MAKE THE BLOG...the person writing it does.  And I am not saying my pictures are all that great...I'm no professional, but a lot of people have asked me about taking better food photos lately...and I've been telling them use natural light...and it is the best tip ever...just not possible most of the time.  Good lighting makes good pictures...not an expensive camera!

Most of my cooking happens in the evening, after I get home from work (so much for natural light)...So not long after I began blogging, I invested in a set of $$photo lights (soft boxes).  I guess the results were decent, and they served their purpose.  But it was awkward falling over lights in the kitchen...and when friends come over for dinner...saying ignore that big photo light in the corner of the dining room.  It was just too much work...made blogging not so much fun.  So I simplified things...started only using a combination of natural light/ plain old kitchen lights, a diffuser, and a mirror for reflecting light...much easier...less stressful, but very limiting! 

So I ordered a pair of Lowel Ego lights...they are very small (about the size of a shoe box)...and affordable (about $100 each).  This was my first experiment using them...well I actually only used one of them...attached it to my tripod so I could swivel it around where I needed the light...and the I thought the results were good...I will not win any awards for these photos, but good enough...very good for just a $100 investment!  So if you're a fellow nighttime food blogger struggling with your photos...these are worth looking into. (I've only had them for 3 days, so I can't speak for how long the bulbs last or anything like that.)

OK...I've chit-chatted long enough...you have probably even forgot what's cooking...Mediterranean Pasta with Chicken and Asparagus...a recipe I stole from Lyndsey(The Tiny Skillet).  She posted this recipe earlier this week and it just sounded too good not to try.  I did tweak it a little...that's just my style.

And a pasta dish with the flavors of the Mediterranean...that's my style too.  And don't you just love those little baby bottles of wine?  They are perfect for cooking with...especially if you don't drink wine.  Oh, but I do drink wine...I just think the bottles are cute...That's why I buy them!  but...

It's an easy/great tasting pasta dish...that comes together in about 30 minutes.  Just add a salad and some bread for one fine dinner.

Mediterranean Pasta with Chicken and Asparagus

adapted from The Tiny Skillet

2- 9 oz packages fresh angel hair pasta (1lb dry would be fine)

4- boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

1- bunch asparagus, cut into 2-inch pieces

1- shallot, finely chopped

4- garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tsp dried oregano

1/4 cup chopped oil packed sun dried tomatoes

1/4 cup sliced Kalamata olives

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 cup cream

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

a handful of fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips

4 oz crumbled Feta cheese

olive oil

salt and black pepper, to taste

Season the chicken with salt and pepper.  In a large skillet over medium heat, heat enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  Add the chicken and saute until browned.  Add the asparagus, shallot, garlic, and oregano.  Saute for a couple minutes, until the shallot is translucent.  Add the sun dried tomatoes and olives, then the wine.  Allow the wine to simmer for a minute or two.  Then add the cream.  Allow the sauce to cook for a minute or two; season with salt and pepper.  Meanwhile cook the pasta in a pot of boiling salted water, until al dente.  Drain the pasta reserving a cup of the pasta water.  Add the pasta to the sauce, along with the Parmesan and basil.  Toss together until the pasta is coated, adding as much of the reserved pasta water needed to create the consistency you desire.  Top with the crumbled Feta just before serving.

Serves about 6

Mini Chamomile Cakes with Honey Frosting

So it's week two of the Joy the Baker Cookbook Spotlight and Cook-Off...This week we had a choice of making Whole Wheat Honey and Goat Cheese Drop Biscuits or these Mini Chamomile Cakes with Honey Frosting.  Now while there are tons of recipes in the book that I'm dying to make...neither of these recipes jumped out at me.  But that's why I enjoy these cooking groups...they help you step out of your comfort zone.  And once again I decided to face my frosting fears...and the results...NOT BAD!  I mean it's not like I iced a layer cake or anything, but we must celebrate all the small victories. 

As for the cakes...maybe a little too dainty for me...but perfect for a tea party!

Mini Chamomile Cakes with Honey Frosting
adapted from Joy the Baker Cookbook

For the cakes:
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick), room temperature
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
3 tbs dried chamomile (from tea bags)
1/2 cup milk
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the frosting:
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 tbs honey
6 tbs heavy cream
pinch of salt

Place a rack in the upper third of the oven, and preheat to 325 degrees.  Line a cupcake pan with paper or foil liners and set aside.  You could just grease and flour the pans and not use any liners.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chamomile tea.  The mixture will be slightly coarse and sandy when mixed for several minutes.  Whisk together the milk, egg, and vanilla.  Pour half of the milk mixture into the flour mixture with the mixer on medium-low speed.  Beat until just incorporated.  Pour in the remaining milk mixture and turn the mixer up to medium.  Beat for 1 minute, until well blended.  Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake cups.  Fill the cups only half way full.  Bake the cupcakes for 17 to 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and allow the cakes to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Remove and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.  To make the frosting whisk together sifted powdered sugar, honey, cream, and salt in a medium bowl.  Whisk until smooth.  Use a butter knife to spread the icing on the cooled cupcakes.  Sprinkle with just a pinch or chamomile tea for decoration, if you like.  Cakes will last for 3 days well wrapped at room temperature.

Makes 12 cupcakes

My notes:  Don't fill the pans more than half full...or they will bake out over the edge of the cups...And the icing was very sweet, so I only used about half of it.

*This post is part of the Joy the Baker Cookbook Spotlight and Cook-Off sponsored by Hyperion and hosted at girlichef*

Joy's Fudge Brownies with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Obviously I have been living under a rock, since I had not even heard of Joy the Baker until last month...when I was invited to participate in a Cookbook Spotlight & Cook-Off to promote her new soon to be released cookbook, Joy the Baker Cookbook:100 Simple and Comforting Recipes.  I didn't even look at her blog until after my copy of the book arrived.  I just committed to this blindly, but now I'm one of Joy's fans!

Now I don't really consider myself a baker...Some things I do well...biscuits, muffins, boxes of brownie mix, Pillsbury crescent rolls...But then other things not so good...crimping a pie crust edge and anything involving frosting.  So this week we had a choice of making Flax Seed and Black Pepper Crackers or brownies with chocolate buttercream or both.  Flax seed anything sounds too healthy for me, so I opted for the brownies even though they have FROSTING!

And I must say these were the richest, most decadent brownies I have ever eaten.  Yes...the frosting looks a HOT MESS as expected, but it tasted wonderful and that is all that matters.

Fudge Brownies with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

adapted from Joy the Baker Cookbook

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

3 oz unsweetened chocolate

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 recipe The Best Chocolate Buttercream Frosting, recipe follows

Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour an 8-inch square baking dish and set aside. (I lined nonstick foil so I could lift it easily from the pan)  In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.  In a medium sauce pan bring 2 inches of water to a boil.  In a medium heatproof bowl, add the butter and unsweetened chocolate.  Place the bowl over, but not touching, the simmering water and allow to melt.  Stir to incorporate.  Once melted, remove the bowl from the a top the simmering water.  Whisk in both the brown and granulated sugars.  Whisk in the eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla.  Add the flour mixture, all at once.  Fold together with a spatula until well incorporated.  Fold in the chocolate chips.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 25 to 35 minutes.  Bake until a skewer inserted in the center of the brownies comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.  Frost with a half recipe of The Best Chocolate Butter Cream.

The Best Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 & 1/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

2 tbs milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

scant 1/2 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup Ovaltine powder (I used Chocolate Malt)

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter, cocoa powder, and salt.  The mixture will be very thick, cream for about 3 minutes on medium speed.  Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Turn the mixer on low to incorporate the sugar while adding the milk and vanilla.  As the sugar incorporates, gradually increase the mixer speed to medium-high, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.  Beat until smooth.  In 1-cup measuring cup, stir together the cream and Ovaltine.  Turn the mixer to medium, and pour in the cream in a slow steady stream until the frosting reaches your desired consistency.  The frosting should be smooth, creamy, and spreadable.  Add more powdered sugar to adjust the consistency.  Spread or pipe onto cooled cakes or cupcakes.  The frosting will keep for up to 5 days well wrapped in the refrigerator.

Joy's note: Putting the frosting in the fridge for about 30 minutes makes it harden just a little and makes it easier to spread as frosting.

*This post is part of the Joy the Baker Cookbook Spotlight and Cook-Off sponsored by Hyperion and hosted at girlichef*

Lamb and Sweet Potato Bites - Another Dog Treat Recipe

Baking dog treats has become my favorite thing to bake...because I love spoiling my kids.  And since I'm not eating the treats, it's calorie free baking!  And they are always appreciated, no one ever turns down my homemade treats!

I found this recipe in the March issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray, which is the only magazine I know of that has a recipe to make for your dogs in every issue.  Rachael, dogs everywhere love you for that...well at least mine do.

So the recipe calls for ground lamb, which might be hard to get depending on where you live and it can be a little pricey...but ground beef should work equally as well.

And these are my favorite kind of treats to make...no rolling...and cutting into cute shapes, that your dogs care nothing about.  You just brown the lamb with shredded sweet potato and mix with the flour, eggs, and water.  And spoon out onto a baking sheet and bake...So easy I decided to make a double batch!

Lamb and Sweet Potato Bites

adapted from Everyday with Rachael Ray March 2012

4 oz ground lamb

1/2 cup shredded sweet potato

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1/4 cup water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a skillet cook together the lamb and sweet potato together until the meat is browned.  Transfer to a large bowl along with any meat juices; let cool for at least 5 minutes.  Mix in the eggs, flour, and water.  Drop a heaping teaspoonful of the mixture onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and bake until browned on the bottom and firm to the touch, 20 to 24 minutes.  Let cool.  These treats can be stored in the refrigerator for one week or freeze them for up to 2 months.

Makes 24 treats

(Note: I doubled the recipe and used a tablespoon cookie scoop to form the treats.  I baked for 24 minutes and ended up with 42 treats.)

But now the real test...Who wants a treat?

Pizza Bubble Bread

OK...I know it seems like I'm stuck in a rut...a rut of pepperoni pizza snacks and appetizers...I mean first the pepperoni pizza crescent roll-ups, then the pepperoni pizza puffs, and now this pizza bubble bread...I guess there are much worse ruts to be in!

I made this for a snack the other day...but it really turned into something much more than a snack...more like a major PIG OUT!

So you start with two cans of Grands Jr...the little ones...

Then you flatten the biscuits...top with pepperoni slices and a cube of mozzarella

Then rolls into balls and dip in butter...yum!

And then into the bundt pan...

Pizza Bubble Bread

adapted from Pillsbury

8 tbs butter, melted (1 stick)
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2- 12 oz cans Pillsbury Grands Jr. refrigerated biscuits
40 slices of pepperoni
8 oz mozzarella cheese, cut into 20 pieces
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/4 cups pizza sauce, heated, for serving

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a bundt pan with non-stick spray.  In a small bowl, mix the melted butter, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder.  Separate 1 can of dough into 10 biscuits; press into a 3-inch round.  Place 2 slices of pepperoni in the center of each biscuit.  Top each with a piece of mozzarella cheese.  Bring the dough up around the filling; press the edges to seal and shape each into a ball.  Roll in the butter mixture.  Place 10 balls in the pan.  Sprinkle the dough balls with Parmesan cheese.  Repeat with the remaining can of biscuits and place them over the balls in the pan.  Pour remaining butter mixture over the top.  Bake 33 to 38 minutes or until deep golden brown.  Cool 5 minutes.  Gently loosen from the sides of the pan and invert onto a plate.  Serve warm with pizza sauce for dipping.

Honestly...It's not just a pizza rut I've been in...it's an appetizer/junk food rut.  But today something arrived in the mail that is going to help me out of it...the Joy the Baker Cookbook...hot of the presses...you can't even buy it yet.  Me and a group of twenty-something other bloggers will be cooking from it over the next few weeks...so I'm swapping the junk food for sugar and buttercream...great swap huh?  But, more on that later...



Mini Pigs In A Blanket

Super Bowl Sunday came and went...and I'm stuffed!  Since I've been cooking so many football party appetizers lately, I wanted more of a meal instead of just a bunch of appetizers...So we had a enchilada casserole, for which I'll be sharing the recipe soon.  Then we had chips and dips, and I had to make a few small bites...and I figured why not a classic!  Pigs in a blanket!!!  I think it's been like ten years since I last had pigs in a blanket.

I really took the easy route and made mine with canned crescent rolls...and even though I had the most jacked up can of crescent rolls mine turned out fine...seriously one can had a major problem, seams were everywhere, you couldn't tell where one roll ended and the other one began...Pillsbury if your reading this I want a refund!

Basically all you do is cut each crescent roll into three pieces and wrap up a cocktail sausage and bake.

Mini Pigs In A Blanket

adapted from Pillsbury

2- 8 oz cans refrigerated crescent rolls

48 cocktail sausages (from two 14 oz packages)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Unroll both cans of crescent rolls and separate into 16 triangles.  Cut each crescent roll into 3 narrow triangles.  Place sausage on the shortest side of each triangle.  Roll up each cocktail sausage.  Place on two ungreased baking sheets and bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown, switching the position of the baking sheets halfway through baking.  Serve warm.

Super Bowl Party Recipes

If you are throwing a Super Bowl party...there are a few things you need...a BIG screen TV...good company...and some good grub! I can't help you with the first two!  But...if you are needing some ideas about what to serve,  any of these recipes would be perfect...pick one or a few!

Ten Can Taco Soup



Pepperoni Pizza Crescent Roll-Ups

Spicy and Sweet Smoked Sausage Appetizer

Walk Away Joe Chicken Pizza

Cream Cheese Sausage Balls

Oven Hot Dogs

Antipasto Pasta Salad

Sweet Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bites

Vegetarian Black Bean Chili

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs